Some unique stories behind 15 starting players in Brumbies' side for Super Rugby final

THE Brumbies are on the verge of scripting one of the great Australian sporting fairytales on Saturday. And there's a story behind every player.

THE Brumbies are on the verge of scripting one of the great Australian sporting fairytales on Saturday.

On the scrap heap two years ago, the club was mired by in-fighting, politics and dreadful on-field performances.

Nobody could have imagined that they would be taking the field in the Super Rugby grand final.

But when you consider what each individual has personally overcome to get to this point, it is easy to understand why this team has beaten the odds time and again.

Their starting XV each has an intriguing background story that has fuelled their desire to achieve.

These are the 15 stories that can win a grand final.

1. Scott Sio: He is constantly trying to live up to the family name, given his father David played for Samoa at the 1991 World Cup. Sio is the most exciting young prop in the country, and has been named in the Wallabies squad, but until he replicates his father’s feats he will remain unsatisfied.

2. Stephen Moore: He is the most capped hooker in Wallabies history, and a Super Rugby player since 2003, with barely a trophy to show for it. Moore moved from Queensland to Canberra in 2009 only to see his old teammates win the title two years later. He has never won a Bledisloe, and played in two losing World Cup campaigns. He was also overlooked for the Brumbies captaincy last year by coach Jake White, a shock move given Moore’s role in the team’s leadership in previous seasons.

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3. Ben Alexander: The prop will forever be haunted by his performance against the British & Irish Lions in the infamous third Test last month. Alexander was monstered in the scrum by rival Alex Corbisiero. It was the type of outing that could kill an international career, but Alexander showed his toughness by bouncing back against the formidable Bulls pack in last week’s semi-final. He’ll always be scrummaging to salvage his reputation.

4. Scott Fardy: At 27, without ever having played a Super Rugby game, Fardy was living in Japan playing for the Kamaishi Seawaves when his village was wiped out by the 2011 tsunami. He was forced to return to Australia but was rejected by the Force and Waratahs, and was given a final chance by the Brumbies. At 29, he is playing in a grand final and will then join the Wallabies for the first time.

5. Sam Carter: Another who is trying to walk in his father’s footsteps, Carter has felt the pressure of trying to emulate Wallaby dad David from a young age. Carter is only 23 but it would still burn him that he’s the only regular starting lock among Australia’s top four franchises that has never been involved with the Wallabies. And he is the only eligible player in this Brumbies’ starting XV who is not in the Wallabies squad or has previously played for Australia.

6. Peter Kimlin: A nomadic veteran, Kimlin played two Tests for the Wallabies in 2009 but was long forgotten by the Australian public when he returned to the Brumbies from England a year later. Kimlin overcame serious shoulder and knee injuries that threatened to end his career, but is now in such incredible form at 28 that new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has picked him despite him moving to French club Grenoble later this year.

7. George Smith: The legend, the icon, one of the world’s truly great players, Smith is playing his final match for the Brumbies. He will equal the record held by luminaries George Gregan and Stephen Larkham for most grand finals appearances by a Brumbies player, and he knows he’ll never get another chance to win a Super Rugby title.

8. Ben Mowen: Rejected by Queensland, rejected by the Waratahs, Mowen has transformed himself into an international at age 28 and led the Brumbies’ two-year revival as the skipper. Captaining his side to grand final glory would be a solid “up yours” to those who had no faith in him at his previous clubs and cut him adrift.

9. Nic White: Imagine being an Australian halfback today playing behind Will Genia. White lives that existence every day, up to the excruciating experience of sitting on the bench for the Wallabies for three Tests last year without ever getting on the field. Injuries have also cursed White, who can not yet say he knows how it feels to run onto a field wearing the gold jersey. But a mighty performance in a grand final is a great audition.

10. Matt Toomua: Before each game, Toomua writes the number “118” on his wrist-band. It reminds him of former teammate and best friend Shawn McKay, who tragically died after being hit by a car in Durban while the Brumbies were touring South Africa in 2009. McKay was the 118th player capped by the Brumbies. Toomua and McKay were living together at the time. The playmaker has slowly conquered his grief but will be playing in McKay’s honour on Saturday.

11.  Clyde Rathbone: At the height of his battle with depression four years ago, Rathbone was contemplating suicide, barely leaving his darkened bedroom and eating boxes of caramel Koalas for dinner. The breakdown of his marriage had left the former Wallaby winger spiralling out of control. Rathbone somehow found the strength to beat his demons, and lose the stack of weight he’d put on. Following a three-year absence from the game he has returned to make another grand final, having won a title alongside George Smith in 2004.

12. Christian Leali’ifano: Tattooed on his left forearm is “TLealiifano”, in memory of his father Tavita who passed away in 2006, never seeing his son play professionally. Leali’ifano has also fought back from one of the worst ankle injuries seen on a rugby field last year to become a Wallaby. If he wins the title on Saturday, expect him, like some of his teammates, to glance skyward.

13.  Tevita Kuridrani: There is no better stage than Saturday’s for Kuridrani to live up the hype. Already the 22-year-old has done enough to warrant inclusion in the Wallabies squad, but when former national coach Bob Dwyer said the Fijian-born Kuridrani would become a better outside centre than Stirling Mortlock it heaped a ton of pressure on his shoulders that won’t easily be lifted.

14. Henry Speight: The nephew of jailed Fijian coup leader George Speight is doing all he can to change perceptions of his surname. The wonderfully gifted Speight hopes his achievements in rugby can override the political turmoil associated with his name, and there would be no better place for him to win the crown. Speight attended Hamilton Boys High and was poached by the Brumbies from Waikato. He remains ineligible for Wallaby selection until the end of this year given his stint there.

15. Jesse Mogg: The former league player was toiling in Canberra’s club rugby scene when offered a training position by coach Jake White. Only problem was, Mogg was told if he played in his club Wests’ grand final that same weekend and got injured, his spot would go to someone else. Mogg made the painful call of sitting out the decider. After two years, he gets the opportunity to finally win a premiership.